Jeju Island to Conduct Thorough Safety Inspections on Egg Producing Farms

Introduction of Advanced New Equipment for Testing 85 Types of Harmful Substances

Jeju Island government office building exterior view.

The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Animal Hygiene Laboratory announced on the 17th that it will conduct a collection and inspection of eggs for harmful substances such as food poisoning bacteria from all local egg producers by the 31st to ensure safe egg consumption for residents.

A total of 1,020 edible eggs (30 eggs per farm) will be collected from 34 egg-producing farms in the province (30 in Jeju City, 4 in Seogwipo City) and tested for 85 items in 12 categories, including veterinary drugs and food poisoning bacteria (34 pesticides, 47 antibiotics, 3 types of Salmonella, and checks for foreign substances or spoilage).

According to Statistics Korea, as of the fourth quarter of 2024, 675,000 eggs are produced daily in the Jeju region. All eggs are distributed with the production date, producer identification number, and rearing environment number printed on the eggshell. Thirty-three farms have received antibiotic-free certification, and nine farms have received animal welfare certification.

The Animal Hygiene Laboratory conducts safety inspections at least three times a year on all egg-producing farms to ensure the safe production and supply of Jeju eggs. This inspection is the first of the year.

The second inspection will be conducted between May and September, when temperatures rise. In particular, considering the seasonal increase in chicken mite activity, the focus will be on checking for pesticide residues in eggs.

Additionally, for spent hens (hens switched from egg production to meat production), a mandatory inspection for 34 types of pesticides will be conducted before shipment to slaughterhouses. Only those with no abnormalities in the inspection results will be allowed for slaughter, providing a double safety measure against harmful residues in livestock products.

This year, the laboratory will invest 400 million KRW to introduce state-of-the-art precision inspection equipment for detecting trace substances. The newly introduced liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer (LC/MSMS) can detect substances at the parts-per-billion (ppb) level, enabling more precise safety inspections.

Kim Eunju, Director of the Animal Hygiene Laboratory, stated, "Since eggs are a popular livestock product among residents, we will continue to raise the level of safety inspections," and requested, "Livestock farmers must strictly comply with the safe usage guidelines for veterinary drugs, including instructions for use, dosage, and withdrawal periods."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.